GMA-7 sets regional expansion

MANILA, Philippines - GMA Network Inc. (GMA-7) is pouring in more investments to beef up its regional operations amid the ongoing talks with Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan for a controlling stake in the broadcast company.

Felipe Gozon, chairman and chief executive officer of GMA, said in a press conference that the company has allocated about P175 million to put up originating stations in Ilocos and Bicol regions to boost the company’s ratings at the same time strengthen its revenues.

Gozon said the company has allocated P115 million to open an originating station in Ilocos through Channel 5 in Ilocos Norte and Channel 48 in Ilocos Sur and covering parts of Abra.

The Ilocos station has competitive signal strength that services over 218,000 estimated television households.

Likewise, he pointed out that the company is spending about P160 million for an originating relay station in Bicol that was launched this month of which P120 million has already been disbursed.

GMA Bicol is now seen in the provinces of Camarines Sur and Albay and would soon be seen in Sorsogon, Masbate, and Catanduanes for a total estimated television households coverage of over 805,000.

GMA Ilocos and GMA Bicol are increments to GMA’s four originating stations found in Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, and Dagupan.

Gozon explained that the establishment of additional regional stations affirms the company’s aggressive stance in capturing the interest of Filipino viewers from different parts of the country.

“We study and customize our response to the diverse programming needs of viewers from different parts of the country. The newly opened Ilocos and Bicol stations service the locals, who are used to using their respective dialects other than Filipino,” he added.

For his part, GMA president and chief operating officer Gilberto Duavit Jr. told reporters that both stations are technically capable of producing local programs and are equipped with microwave and satellite facilities.

“We are excited by the opportunity to share more of our programs, both national and soon, local, with our valued viewers in the Ilocos and Bicol regions and look forward to their making GMA a bigger part of their regular viewing time,” Duavit says.

These stations in strategic areas outside Mega Manila have been instrumental in increasing revenue for the network and in growing GMA’s overall viewership nationwide.

GMA’s sustained nationwide ratings supremacy that commenced in 2011 was mainly driven by strong weekday and weekend programming across all time blocks and ratings increments in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

Duavit revealed that the company is spending about P100 million to put up an originating station somewhere in Mindanao and another one in Luzon worth below P100 million.

He added that the company recently acquired transmitters in Mt. Kitanglad in Bukidnon and Mt. Canlandong in Negros Occidental.

GMA is confident that the company’s gross revenues could hit P3 billion this year from about P1.7 billion as advertisers have started to put more ad placements in light of the improving situation in the US and debt crisis in the Eurozone areas.

“I am afraid we will be meeting P3 billion this year,” Gozon stressed.

He added that talks between GMA-7 and the PLDT Group for a controlling stake in the broadcast company is still ongoing but reiterated that talks would be terminated if no agreement is reached within the year.

He pointed out that the Pangilinan Group has expressed interest in acquiring the 79 percent stake covering both preferred and common shares owned by the families of Duavit, Gozon, and Jimenez in GMA-7 with a market value of about P48 billion.